Competing interests

In talking about Hulu before I’ve been honest in that while the site was going through it’s seemingly never-ending development and planning stage I was plenty skeptical. I loved the idea behind it – a single online streaming destination – but thought the site would be crippled by the fact that the partner networks already had their own streaming destinations and would be loathe to commit to something they weren’t going to benefit from 100%. Plus, I just didn’t believe it would work as smoothly as advertised.

I was glad to be proven wrong and Hulu is now how I watch a fair amount of movies and almost all my broadcast TV programming.

But that doesn’t mean that the individual networks aren’t still looking to kneecap it while working on programs of their own. Not only are they suffering from a severe case of sour grapes over unclear lines for ad sales staff (how was this not the second thing figured out among the partner networks, by the way?) but efforts are continuing at the networks at tools that are designed to make the individual sites more attractive to Hulu. Case in point: The new social chat tool being rolled out by NBC.com.

In some ways this sort of conflict is indicative of the larger struggle going on within the media and marketing worlds as a whole. Is it better to drive traffic on-domain or off-domain. Is it better to continue holding to a theatrical exhibition window or sell DVDs as soon as possible?

Of course the best strategies find ways to utilize the strengths of each part of a seeming conflict to make up for the shortcomings of the other component. So a blog winds up not competing with a more traditional website, it becomes a content engine that keeps things fresh and up-to-date. A Twitter feed engages the audience but points to a site where more information and context can be found.

Even feature films can take advantage of this thinking. DVDs can’t be immediate at the point of theatrical release, but there are ways to make sure the audience that sees the movie in theaters is incentivized to buy the DVD and is continually engaged during the months in-between.

NBC shouldn’t be actively working to pull eyeballs from Hulu, especially since efforts like this social chat widget also manage to make online viewing more attractive than watching the shows on TV, which is something they don’t want to have happen.

Multiple goals are fine, even if at first they appear to compete against one another. It takes an extra level of bravery and willingness to find the ways that strategies can be put into place to achieve them all without sacrificing or outright working against the others.